Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer won the National League Cy Young Award for a second straight year, besting Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Nationals teammate Stephen Strasburg.
Scherzer received 27 of 30 first-place votes, and three second-place votes. Kershaw garnered three first-place votes, 25 for second place, and one vote each for third and fourth place. Strasburg received one second-place vote and 23 for third place.
Scherzer previously won the American League Cy Young in 2013. He’s the first NL pitcher to win consecutive Cy Young Awards since Kershaw from 2013-2014. Last week, Scherzer was voted by his peers as the NL Outstanding Pitcher, ahead of Kershaw and Arizona Diamondbacks righty Zack Greinke.
This season, he went 16-6 with a 2.51 ERA, 2.90 FIP, 0.90 WHIP and 268 strikeouts in 31 starts. Scherzer paced the NL in strikeouts, WHIP and Wins Above Replacement (6.0); tied for first with two complete games; was second in ERA; and tied for third in wins.
Scherzer joined Randy Johnson, Fergie Jenkins and Pedro Martinez as the fourth pitcher in MLB history to record a minimum of 250 strikeouts in four consecutive seasons.
Moreover, Scherzer’s 200.2 innings pitched were most amongst the Cy Young finalists, and he was the only of the three to eclipse the 200-innings threshold this season. Each of the pitchers spent time on the disabled list, but a minor neck injury only forced Scherzer to miss two starts.
Kershaw finished the year 18-4 with a 2.31 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 0.95 WHIP, 202 strikeouts and 30 walks. He threw 175 innings over 27 starts, leading the NL in wins, ERA and with a 6.73 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
While he again did not win the award, Kershaw joined Greg Maddux as the only pitchers in MLB history to finish in the top five in Cy Young voting for seven consecutive seasons.
During that span, Kershaw won the Cy Young in 2011, 2013 and 2014; came in second place in 2012; finished third in 2015; and was fifth last year.
Kenley Jansen finished fifth in voting this year, and teammate Alex Wood received a single vote.
